


Party Rules

by mayfield84



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Birthday Party, F/M, I’m terrible at tagging, Lumax-centric, Only minor Mileven, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-23 08:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20239972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayfield84/pseuds/mayfield84
Summary: Party rules dictate a lot about how Lucas and his friends interact.“You draw first blood, you shake hands.”“Obey the rule of law or be banished from the party.”And most importantly:“Friends don’t lie.”There are, however, a few lesser known rules, like:“Every Party member deserves a special celebration on his, or her, birthday.”When Lucas finds out Max hasn’t had a party in years, he sets out to change that.





	Party Rules

**Author's Note:**

> this is based on another request from the lovely Lumax85, who prompted “Max makes a comment that she hasn't had a birthday party in a few years, so Lucas takes it upon himself to plan her a surprise party and recruits the rest of the gang to help set it up.”  
i hope you enjoy!

It all started at Will’s birthday party: Friday, March 22nd, 1985. He held a small get together at his house, which was basically the party’s usual weekend hangout, but complete with cake, balloons, and presents. Plus, Steve and Nancy were there too.

Throughout the evening they had done dinner and presents, so next it was...

“Movie time!” Dustin exclaimed, hopping on the couch and quickly claiming the second-best seat (_obviously_ reserving the first-best for the birthday boy).

“What movie did you pick?” El asked as she and Mike, hand in hand, claimed the rest of the couch as their own.

“Poltergeist. It’s an oldie but a goodie,” Will shrugged. He sat in the middle of the sofa between Dustin and Mike.

“Good choice!” Max smiled. She was a sucker for horror movies. For a moment she considered sitting on the floor in front of the couch, but a tug from Lucas’ hand led her over to the large recliner where he had chosen to sit.

“You can sit here,” he offered, pressing himself to one side of the chair. It would fit the two of them, but they would be quite crammed. Not uncomfortably though. The redhead smirked at him.

“You just can’t get enough of me, huh Stalker?” Max teased, fitting comfortably in the small empty space. He just chuckled and slyly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, to which she leaned on him. Just ever so slightly.

After the movie they all had cake. Vanilla ice cream cake, to be exact. A favorite among the Party- a food nearly enjoyed nearly as much as each other’s company.

But as the evening was slowly drew to a close, Lucas noticed a forlorn expression on his girlfriend’s face.

Thankfully he knew better than to ask her what was wrong in front of everyone else.

“I need to use the bathroom,” Max said rather suddenly as Mrs. Byers put the leftover cake into the freezer. Her crystalline gaze met Lucas’ confused one, and only took him a moment to understand what the look meant.

“Good for you I guess?” Mike commented, and the rest of the party laughed.

A minute after Max left, Lucas slipped out as well. The others were too preoccupied to notice.

He rendezvoused with his girlfriend in Will’s bedroom. She was sitting on the bed waiting patiently for him to get there.

“Hi,” Lucas greeted softly. His face betrayed his concern.

“Hey, Stalker,” Max responded. He sat down next to her so their knees touched.

“What’s up?” He asked simply. When they both knew things were wrong, it was best to keep things light until the one with the issue (usually Max) could form their words properly.

The redhead took a deep breath.

“Tonight has been really fun,” she began, her voice wistful. It was almost as if she were describing something she experienced in a dream- something that didn’t actually happen.

“Yeah,” he replied simply.

“It made me realize that I haven’t had a birthday party since I moved here, and that’s fine. Entirely understandable,” Max explained, “but I also don’t think I’ve had a birthday party since before my parents divorce.”

They were both silent for a second. The redhead stared at the carpet and kneaded her hands while Lucas examined her.

“And I know that’s not a big deal, compared to some of the things we’ve all been through, but-“ Max continued, before he cut her off.

“Madmax, stop. Of course it’s a big deal. Everyone deserves their birthday to be celebrated. Everyone deserves to feel special at least one day of the year,” Lucas grabbed her hands and rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs. “It’s one of the Party rules, y’know.”

“I guess,” she muttered, “but it’s still not a big deal. I promise. Thanks for letting me talk about it though.” With that, the redhead planted a gentle kiss on her boyfriend’s lips, got up, and left the room.

Max considered that conversation over, but Lucas sure didn’t.

The next day, he had some very important calls to make.

“Good morning Miss Henderson, is Dustin there?” He greeted politely. As much as he was in a hurry, Lucas would never forget his manners.

“Absolutely! I’ll get him right for you,” the kind woman replied. It only took a moment for Dustin to reach the phone.

“Hey, Lucas, what’s up? I thought you were hanging out with Max today,” He heard the curly-haired boy comment over the gritty sounding telephone.

“Yeah, I am, but not ‘til later. But Dustin, there’s something really important we need to do,” Lucas implored rather urgently.

“Oh? What’s that?” Dustin prompted.

“We need to throw Max a surprise party. I know her birthday isn’t until fall, but last night she told me she hasn’t had one in years. _Years_, Dustin,” the dark-skinned boy explained. His tone was suddenly much softer and less urgent than before.

“Oh, shit man. Yeah we can do that. When do you wanna plan it for, next month? Beginning of summer?” Dustin sounded amused, but willing.

“Uh... I was thinking tomorrow?” Lucas suggested.

“Dude, are you _joking_? There’s no way in hell we can plan a signature Party birthday party in one day. That’s not possible,” his friend responded.

“Need I reiterate? Max- a fellow Party member, my _girlfriend_\- hasn’t had her birthday celebrated in a long time. This is important. You know the significance of birthdays with us.”

He heard Dustin sigh over the speaker. “I know: _every Party member deserves a special celebration on his, or her, birthday_,” the curly-haired boy recited. The two took a moment to think about all of the parties they’ve had in the past. Before El and Max came along the boys celebrated four times a year, and now that the girls were official members of the party, they would start celebrating six times a year. “Sure. I’ll help you.”

“Could you call Will and El to explain the situation please? Tell them to meet at Melvald’s in an hour,” Lucas asked.

“Yeah, we’ll be there,” Dustin assured him.

“Thanks a bunch. See you there.”

“Cya.”

After he hung up, Lucas sighed. Dustin, Will, and El would be the easiest ones to convince. It would be Mike- the one that most protested Max joining the Party in the first place- that would be the hardest to persuade.

He took a deep breath and dialed the familiar number.

“Hey, Mrs. Wheeler! This is Lucas. Is Mike there?” The boy asked politely.

“Yes, he’s downstairs,” she told him.

Lucas heard a distant “MIKE! PHONE!” from Mrs. Wheeler, then an “OKAY MA!” from Mike.

“Hello?” The lanky boy asked, his voice cracking over the speaker.

“Mike, this is Lucas. I have an important job for us,” he prefaced.

“Wait, Lucas? Aren’t you supposed to be hanging out with Max today? Did something happen?” His friend asked.

Ah, yes. Leave it to Mike to always assume the worst.

“No, Mike, everything is fine. I’m seeing Max later,” Lucas reassured. “But speaking of Max...”

“Oh boy, my favorite subject.”

“This is important! Personal differences aside, we have a job to do.”

“Fine, tell me what’s going on,” Mike sighed.

“Last night at Will’s, Max told me she hadn’t had a birthday celebrated since her parents divorced. _Years_, Mike. Isn’t that terrible? We can’t let this go on,” Lucas explained.

“So you want to throw her a birthday party?” His friend clarified.

“Yeah. For tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Isn’t that kind of soon?” Mike asked.

“Dude, it’s been years since her last birthday party. There’s no such thing as ‘_too soon_’ anymore,” Lucas emphasized.

“This sounds like a lot of work,” his friend responded.

“_Please_, Mike. Max is a member of the Party now, and you know the rule. The Party rule,” Lucas mentioned casually.

“What do we need to do?” Mike exhaled deeply.

“Meet at Melvald’s in an hour,” Lucas said, “I’ll explain when we get there.”

**Author's Note:**

> update on the my other works: i have a few other one-shots in store (but i’m always open for more requests!) and the smut piece i wrote ended up being near 15,000 words. that will also be posted soon. :)


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